ART & EXHIBITIONS
“Working America”
“Working America” Photos by Sam Comen of immigrants and first-generation Americans working in small craft businesses “as icons of the American experience,” according to a news release, will be on display Friday at the Rogers Historical Museum, 313 S. Second St., Cherry St., Rogers.
The traveling exhibit from ExhibitsUSA, a national program of the Mid-America Arts Alliance, remains on view through January 7. The museum’s opening hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. Call (479) 621-1154.
“Bizarre and quirky”
“Whimsical and Whimsical Drawings by Ike Garlington” Works by the Little Rock artist, primarily ink and colored pencil on paper, are on view through Nov. 30 at the College Gallery at East Arkansas Community College, 1700 Newcastle Road, Forrest City. Opening hours are Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. Call (870) 633-4480 or visit eacc.edu.
MUSIC
Saxophone star at the HSU
Jazz saxophonist Lou Marini, best known as a member of the “Saturday Night Live” and Blues Brothers bands, will perform with the Arkansas All-Star Big Band at Henderson State University’s Arkansas Hall, 1118 Henderson St., Arkadelphia, on Monday at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15; Visit hsu.edu/marini.
Arkansas Talent Trials
The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra will perform its first concert Arkansas Talent singing competition Nov. 18 at the River Market Pavilions, behind Ottenheimer Market Hall, 400 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock. The orchestra is looking for the best vocal talent in the state; Two winners will have the chance to headline the orchestra’s Home for the Holidays pop concerts in December 2024.
On-site registration begins at 8:30 a.m.; Auditions begin at 10 a.m. The first 200 applicants are guaranteed a chance to try out – register at arkansassymphony.org/arkansas-talent-nov. Participation is free (you may have to pay for nearby parking) and there are no age restrictions (parents or guardians must sign a waiver for participants under 18). Be prepared to sing a cappella for up to one minute of any song (no instruments provided; bring no accompaniment or song track).
Judges include “American Idol” Season 8 winner Kris Allen, local musicians Bonnie Montgomery and Rodney Block, and Arkansas Symphony Orchestra music director Geoffrey Robson. You have the option to shorten the audition depending on voter turnout.
This will be the first of three rounds of auditions; The semi-finalists will compete on January 18th, while the finalists will compete on May 11th. The two winners will be announced on May 12th. Visit facebook.com/events/2459785514194154.
ETC.
‘cemetery angel’
Ruth Coker Burks, known as the “Arkansas Cemetery Angel,” and Andrew Amstutz, assistant professor of history at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, will be involved “A Conversation with Ruth Coker Burks, the ‘Arkansas Cemetery Angel’: AIDS Activism and New Archives in Arkansas,” Tuesday, 7-8:30 p.m., at the Little Rock Historic Arkansas Museum, 200 E. Third St. It is part of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s “Evenings with History” lecture series. Refreshments will be served from 7 p.m
Burks worked as a caregiver and AIDS activist in Arkansas from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, providing a final resting place for some of the men she cared for at Files Cemetery in Hot Springs.
Entry to the series is by subscription, but visitors and UALR students are welcome to attend individual lectures free of charge. Email [email protected] or visit ualr.edu/history/history-institute.
Photos by Sam Comen of booksellers Chris Capizzi and Jenny Yang and dishwasher Jesus Sera are part of his “Working America” series, running Friday through January. 7 at the Rogers Historical Museum. (Courtesy of the artist)
Ruth Coker Burks, known as the “Arkansas Cemetery Angel,” speaks about AIDS activism in a talk Tuesday at the historic Arkansas Museum in Little Rock. (NWA Democrat-Gazette archive photo)
Jazz saxophonist Lou Marini joins the Arkansas All-Star Big Band at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia on Monday. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette/R. Andrew Lepley)